A Kiss for a Friend
by amiwakawaiidesu
Summary: Ami and Mamoru are stuck in a cabin during a snowstorm.


A Kiss for a Friend  
by amiwakawaiidesu  
  
(based on characters and situations from "Sailor Moon", created by   
Naoko Takeuchi.)  
  
"Mamoru...oh my God!"  
  
Crunching through the snow, Ami stumbled over half-buried rocks   
and churned-up twigs to the body of her friend. Incredibly,   
Mamoru had slid more than a hundred meters down the side of the   
hill, and now he was lying face-down and still.  
  
"Oh God, oh God, oh God..." Ami mumbled, closing on the body--but   
even then a plan was forming in her head. She had studied first   
aid, and the cold logic of survival took over. Praying his neck   
wasn't broken, she moved his head enough to clear his airway, then   
rolled him all the way over to check if he was breathing. It   
didn't look like it, but it was hard to tell through his parka and   
she couldn't get his zipper open with her gloves on.  
  
"Baka," she cursed herself, tearing off her gloves even as she   
called out for help: "Tasukete! Tasukete, kudasai!"  
  
The cries, however, simply echoed through the gulch; the ski lodge   
couldn't be more than two or three kilometers away, yet it might   
as well be in Tokyo. There was no one to help her but herself.  
  
"Just hang on, Mamoru..." she said, opening his coat; "I'm sure   
someone's looking for us..."  
  
Damnably, however, Mamoru wasn't breathing--and Ami suddenly found   
herself bending over his face, pinching his nostrils but unable to   
act.   
  
This is silly, she thought; I have to breathe for him! It's not   
like I'm kissing him...! But what would Usagi think? If Usagi   
saw me doing this, she'd never understand...  
  
Shimatta! How did all this happen...?  
  
* * *  
  
Ironically, the sun had been shining in a bright blue sky two days   
ago, glistening on the snow-capped mountains of Yamanashi. Ever   
the sport, Yuichirou had gotten lift passes for Rei and all her   
friends--then promptly twisted his ankle falling off the roof of   
the shrine. Thus, he was not on hand as Rei and her buddies took   
an excursion bus to the mountains.  
  
"What an idiot," Rei said, looking out the window of the excursion   
bus. "What was he doing on the roof in the first place?"  
  
"I thought he said something about fixing the roof tiles," Mamoru   
said, generously.   
  
"Well," Usagi offered, pulling herself even closer to Mamoru, "I   
think it was very generous of Yuichirou to give his pass to   
Mamoru."  
  
"And a good thing," Rei replied; "otherwise, we'd hear you whining   
all the way up there and back."  
  
"Puh-leeze," Usagi said; "at least I have a boyfriend."  
  
"Well I had him first."  
  
"Oh, yeah? Well...nyah!" Usagi said, sticking out her tongue.   
Reflexively, Rei answered in kind.  
  
"Girls, please," Mamoru said, noting the attention of strangers on   
the bus; "this is embarrassing!"  
  
"Yeah," Mina said, looking up from the bag of potato chips she was   
stuffing her face with; "chill out already."  
  
Mako, meanwhile, sighed in her seat across the aisle, opposite   
Ami.  
  
"Honestly," she said, "why do they always have to fight like   
this?"  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about it," Ami said, looking up from her   
book. "I'd worry when we stop fighting with each other."  
  
Mako shrugged, and smiled. "I guess."  
  
"Anyway," Ami said ominously, looking out the window; "we have   
more important things to worry about..."  
  
"What is it?" Mako asked, leaning suddenly closer to Ami. "The   
Dark Kingdom? The Death Busters...?"  
  
Ami smiled. "No, I was thinking about the weather. They say   
there's a chance that a storm could move in."  
  
"Oh, is that all?"  
  
"I just like to be prepared," Ami said, fishing in her pocket and   
bringing out a cell phone.  
  
"What do you need that for?" Mako asked--lowering her voice   
slightly to add; "you've already got a communicator to talk to   
Luna."  
  
"Yes, but Luna's not going to teleport up here when Usagi falls   
off the mountain during a snowstorm."  
  
"I heard that," Usagi said.  
  
But Ami just smiled slightly, and returned to her reading.  
  
And in fact it appeared that her fears were unfounded. Although   
the Kuroyama lodge was a little out of the way, in a valley ringed   
with mountains that must have been an avalanche hazard, the   
weather remained clear as the visitors checked in and ventured   
onto the slopes. Since they were planning to stay at the lodge   
for a couple of days, Ami decided to start slow and prudently on   
the safest run, but Usagi--prodded by taunts from the skillful   
Rei--managed to drag Mamoru and Mako onto a much more difficult   
course.  
  
"I swear, we'll never see them again," Ami told Mina--who was a   
lot more interested in flirting with boys around the ski lift.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about them. They'll be fine."  
  
Well, maybe I should lighten up, Ami thought to herself. Just   
because we're a hundred kilometers from the nearest city, in some   
godforsaken cleft in the mountains, doesn't mean we HAVE to have   
some kind of disaster...  
  
Yet, sure enough, the weather began to turn as the afternoon wore   
on and Ami saw no sign of her friends. While other skiers headed   
in for cover, Ami and Mina defied the warnings of the ski patrol   
to go out looking for their friends. Finally--truly lost--Ami   
gave up and used her pocket computer to locate the missing party,   
which was wandering near a copse of trees, impaired by Usagi's one   
good ski.  
  
"Holy cow!" Mina laughed, looking at the remains of Usagi's other   
ski, snapped clean in two; "how did you do that?"  
  
"Believe me," Mako said; "you don't want to know."  
  
"Please, everybody," Ami said, raising her voice above the wind;   
"we have to go."  
  
Progress was slowed, however, by Usagi on her one good ski.   
Finally, as a proper blizzard began to blow up, and the sun went   
down, Mamoru suggested he should just go ahead and carry his   
future wife.  
  
"I don't think that's smart!" Rei said.   
  
"Why not?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"Well, you're not exactly an expert skier--you'd kill yourself   
trying to carry her!"  
  
"Good point!"  
  
"Here," Rei said to Usagi; "take one of my skis!"  
  
"Rei, the binding's stuck!"  
  
"Oh, geez," Makoto muttered.  
  
"Hell," Rei said, finally taking command. "Mamoru, go with Ami   
and get help! We'll help meatball head!"  
  
"I heard that!" Usagi yelled.  
  
"Why me?" Mamoru asked.  
  
"Because you're biggest and strongest," Rei said, "and Ami's got   
the computer! Move it!"  
  
Mamoru thought to protest, but he had to admit that Rei was in her   
element. For her part, Ami thought about using her phone, but   
finally figured it was better to wait. Certainly, the storm was   
brewing up, and soon--even with her computer and Mamoru's   
flashlight--she had to admit she was lost.  
  
"Which way?" Mamoru yelled.  
  
"I..."  
  
"What?"  
  
Ami felt foolish, and hesitated to respond.  
  
"I don't know. I'm all turned around and lost my bearings!"  
  
If Mamoru was scared, however, he didn't show it.  
  
"We passed a shed a ways back! Let's go there and use your   
phone!"  
  
"Good thinking! Good thing you're the king!"  
  
* * *  
  
As it happened, the structure they passed was more than just a   
shed; it appeared to be a small cottage for the use of workers   
away from the lodge. At the time it was empty, but there was   
power, a sofa and some chairs, and--most importantly--a phone with   
a land line to the lodge.  
  
"Thank God," Mamoru said, dialing a number on the phone and   
reaching a startled worker at the other end of the line. He, in   
turn, transferred the call to the front desk, whose manager   
informed Mamoru that Rei's party was already safely back at the   
lodge, rescued by the ski patrol.  
  
"Thank goodness," Mamoru replied. "So what about us?"  
  
"You're lucky you got to cover," the manager replied, pausing to   
back away from the suddenly loud and intrusive Usagi. "Stay   
there, and we'll get you in the morning."  
  
"But..." Mamoru said, glancing at Ami in the suddenly small   
confines of the building, "...I guess you're right."  
  
Then, smiling incongruously, he hung up the phone.  
  
"What's so funny?" Ami asked, patting her gloved hands against the   
sides of her parka.  
  
"It's Usagi," Mamoru said. "I think she was trying to tell you to   
keep your hands off me."  
  
Ami chuckled, despite herself.  
  
"Mamoru," she finally said, a moment later, "I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For getting us lost. I wasn't prepared."  
  
"Oh, please," Mamoru said, surveying the facilities at hand;   
"you're too hard on yourself. We're alive, and we'll be fine."  
  
For a long moment, Ami didn't know what to say, or what to do.   
She prided herself on being the support for her friends--friends   
who happened to be the reincarnated court of the royal houses of   
the Solar System. She didn't want glory, or even attention; she   
just wanted to be ready and helpful, whatever way she could.   
  
But this is silly, she thought; you've got to help Mamoru, in the   
current situation.  
  
"It doesn't look like there's a cot or a bed," Mamoru noted. "Oh   
well--I guess it's the floor for me."  
  
Ami didn't reply to that at first, but--after the pair had   
surveyed the facilities of the house, and helped themselves to a   
minimal snack from the kitchen--Ami felt unsatisfied with Mamoru's   
gallantry. There were blankets on the sofa--warm enough to keep   
out the chill in the air, combined with a parka--but it could not   
be comfortable at all on the floor or propped up on a chair.  
  
"I think," Ami suggested, "we should both just sleep on the   
couch."  
  
"No, I'll be fine."  
  
"No, really. One of us could be at one end, and the other at the   
other end."  
  
"No, I'll be fine. Besides, we've got lights and a little   
heat..."  
  
At which point, the power went out.  
  
"...and I've got a girlfriend who will kill me, if she finds out   
about this."  
  
* * *  
  
Somehow, despite the fact that the storm was still howling   
outside, and the cottage was soon freezing cold, Ami did not feel   
nearly as miserable as she thought she would, huddled under   
blankets and a parka. In the dark, she managed to engineer a   
barrier of blankets between herself and Mamoru, yet she could feel   
his warmth nearby, and could just make out his features as her   
eyes adapted to the dark.  
  
"Ami," Mamoru said, "I've got a confession to make."  
  
"Um, okay..."   
  
"I didn't think this trip was a very good idea. But I let Usagi   
talk me into it."  
  
Ami sighed relief. Although she hadn't thought of it, her mother   
would completely freak if she saw her there with a college student   
several years her senior.  
  
"Well, I guess it's good to be in love," Ami offered.  
  
Mamoru snorted.  
  
"Don't get me wrong," he said; "I do love her. But sometimes, I   
don't know..."  
  
Ami smiled.  
  
"And I do owe her a lot," Mamoru continued; "until I met her, I   
had no idea who I was, or why I was born. I'm a better person,   
now that I know who I am."  
  
"The future king of the world. Hard to imagine."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you ever wonder, though," Ami asked, "what would have happened   
if you hadn't met Usagi?"  
  
For a moment, Mamoru was lost for words.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe I'd have met another girl."  
  
"There's always Rei."  
  
"Yes, there's always Rei."  
  
"I have to admit," Ami ventured, "you and Rei do seem kind of   
similar; you're both leaders, smart and popular."  
  
"You'd be surprised," Mamoru said, "how much it can wear on a guy,   
dating a strong girl."  
  
Ami chuckled.  
  
"What about you?" Mamoru asked. "There must be some kind of guy   
you'd be fond of."  
  
In the dark, Ami was glad he couldn't see she was turning bright   
red.  
  
"I don't know..." she said; "this is embarrassing...!"  
  
"Well, it's not like you're a troll, Ami. I'm sure there's lots   
of guys--nice guys--who'd be proud to have you for a girlfriend."  
  
The red on Ami's face intensified, spreading right down to her   
neck and shoulders.  
  
"Speaking hypothetically, of course."  
  
"Yes," Ami said, "well, speaking hypothetically--I picture   
someone smart and handsome, like a young Einstein. Someone with a   
lot of interests, with a big library."  
  
"I've got a big library," Mamoru noted, and Ami nodded.  
  
"I like men with big libraries."  
  
Despite himself, Mamoru snort-giggled, and suddenly both of them   
were laughing.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said; "I shouldn't be asking you personal   
questions."  
  
For a long moment, warm and snug in the freezing cold room, Ami   
didn't know what to say.   
  
"Mamoru?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"I think we all love you," she said; "the Senshi, I mean."  
  
"Well, there are worse things in the world than working with six   
beautiful women."  
  
Still blushing, Ami was confused for a moment, then remembered   
Chibi-Usa.   
  
"What's that English expression?" Ami said. "The optimist   
believes this is the best of all worlds, and the pessimist fears   
he's right?"  
  
"I didn't know you were that fluent in English."  
  
"I...can...speak...English...very...well," Ami said, in English.  
  
Mamoru chuckled, and sank down slightly in his end of the couch.  
  
"Oyasumi, Mizuno-kun."  
  
"Oyasumi, Chiba-san."  
  
* * *  
  
Cozy as they were, Ami and Mamoru were unaware that--even as the   
storm was dying down--snow was beginning to pile up around the   
cottage. And indeed, when they woke up early the next morning,   
they found the doors and windows completely blocked.  
  
"The phone?" Ami suggested.  
  
"The phone," Mamoru agreed, moving to try the line out of the   
cottage. It was, however, not functioning, and Ami's phone was   
likewise inert.  
  
"Maybe it's all this snow," Mamoru said.  
  
"Or maybe I didn't charge the battery enough."  
  
"Well, there is a vent near the roof in the back. I'll try that."  
  
"We could just wait," Ami suggested. "They've got to know we're   
here."  
  
"I'll be careful," Mamoru said.  
  
Men, Ami thought, dutifully following behind the future king to   
help out. Sure enough, there was a vent high up toward the back   
of the house, and it came loose with a few turns of a screwdriver.   
Although it was small, it was wide enough to let Mamoru squeeze   
outside.  
  
"Wow," Mamoru said, finding himself on the sloping roof of an   
attached shed--up to his knees in snow; "it's like an avalanche   
hit us."  
  
"Do you see anything?" Ami said, standing on a ladder to peer   
through the vent.  
  
"It looks like we're next to a crevasse," Mamoru answered;   
"amazing we didn't fall into that."  
  
"So, do you see anybody out there?"  
  
"Wait a second; I'll move out a little farther..."  
  
Whereupon, suddenly, Mamoru's boot caught a patch of ice on the   
edge of the roof, and he suddenly disappeared from Ami's view--  
together with half of the snow on that side of the building.  
  
"Mamoru!"  
  
But Mamoru was already gone, bouncing and rolling down the side of   
the cleft in the rock. By the time Ami had squeezed herself out   
the vent, he was already long gone.  
  
"Oh, God, Usagi will kill me," Ami muttered, gingerly picking her   
way off the rooftop, then crashing down the slope after Mamoru;   
"she'll kill me, she'll kill me, she'll kill me...!"  
  
Thankfully, Mamoru's descent had not begun a general avalanche,   
and Ami finally found his lifeless body just a few minutes later.   
Panic seized her for a moment, but then she collected herself,   
rolled Mamoru over and called out for help.   
  
Someone has to be there, she thought, even as she sank to the   
ground next to Mamoru, lowered her head next to his and pinched   
his nose. She paused...just a second...then lowered her mouth to   
his and breathed in twice. Then she felt for a pulse--which was   
there, but faint--and resumed the cycle of breathing.   
  
Ichi, ni, san, breathe...ichi, ni, san, breathe...  
  
Winded by her run, Ami knew she couldn't keep it up for long, but   
suddenly--as if she were being lifted out of a long, bad dream-  
she felt strong arms pulling her up and away, and only struggled   
for a moment before she realized they'd been found by the ski   
patrol.  
  
"You all right, miss?" a gentleman asked.  
  
"Oh, I'm fine," Ami said, woozily; "just...don't say anything to   
the rabbit."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Usagi, the rabbit," Ami repeated. "Whatever...just help him."  
  
* * *  
  
Luckily, Mamoru was not gravely injured; he had a few fractured   
bones for his trouble, but the local hospital confirmed that his   
neurological functions were fine. Clearly, Ami's quick thinking   
had averted a disaster.  
  
"Ami..." Usagi said, standing with the other girls outside   
Mamoru's room; "I don't know how to thank you..."  
  
"Usagi..."  
  
"Arigato," Usagi said finally, embracing her old friend; "domo   
arigato!"  
  
"You know," Mako said, "that was really quick thinking there, that   
artificial--"  
  
"Makoto!" Mina interrupted, "we promised not to mention that!"  
  
"Mention...what?"  
  
"Uh...nothing," Mako said, awkwardly wrapping a long arm around   
the back of her head.  
  
"Ami...?" Usagi said, suspiciously.  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud," Rei said; "Usagi, thanks to your dumb   
luck, Ami was here to give Mamoru artificial respiration!"   
  
"Oh, is that all," Usagi said, eliciting a surprised sigh of   
relief from the girls.  
  
"What's artificial respiration?"  
  
Ami smiled.  
  
"It's absolutely not like a kiss," she said. "It's not like a   
kiss at all."  
  
  
THE END 


End file.
